1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to portable basketball goal support systems and, in particular, to a support system having a base and a separate ballast tank that cooperates with the base to form a compact position for shipping/storage, and an expanded position having an increased support system footprint that places the ballast towards the rear of the system to provide greater support and stability during play, as well as to an improved support pole.
2. Description of Related Art
Various types of basketball goal support assemblies have been proposed and used in the past. Such proposals have recognized that stability, and in some instances portability, are desirable characteristics. However, stability and portability can present conflicting design considerations and make it difficult to provide collapsibility, which is especially desirable for shipping and storage of portable basketball support assemblies. In the past, providing both stability and portability in a particular construction has come at the price of requiring a more complex structural arrangement and a larger base, which meant added complexity in both assembly and use as well as increased costs in storage space and shipping. These problems may be present to some degree in smaller applications like poolside and youth sports products. See, for example: 1) the poolside system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,545 to Grable, wherein a base is adapted to seat on a pool deck and receive a first quantity of water internally and an additional quantity of water or other material externally when additional ballast is needed; and 2) the youth sports products described in parent application Ser. No. 08/337,884, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,480, in which a separate ballast tank is mounted on top of a base in a single configuration. However, overcoming the conflicting design considerations of stability and portability is a more difficult task in designing larger units for adults and regulation play, which must be able to withstand heavier loads and more aggressive conditions. Moreover, the recent trend towards using larger and larger backboards in portable systems designed for regulation play has exacerbated these problems.
Conventionally, portable basketball systems of this type have included several main components: a basketball backboard supporting a basketball goal and a net, a pole and extension arm, elevator, or other mechanism for supporting the backboard on the pole; and a base for supporting the pole. Typically, ballast material such as water or sand is provided on top of or inside the base section to weigh down the unit, and provide the requisite stability during use. An example of a support system in which weights are provided on top of a base is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,501 to Anastasakis. An example of a portable system having ballast inside a base is described in the assignee's prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,407 to Fitzsimmons et al.
In Fitzsimmons et al. '407, a hollow tetrahedral base supports the pole and has an interior space for receiving ballast material. The support pole is secured at an angle at a rear portion of the base, so that the backboard mounted on the pole extends beyond the base and over the playing surface. A roller provided in a recess on a leading edge of the base facilitates moving the unit from one location to another. While the support assembly described in Fitzsimmons et al. '407 worked well and was portable, the size of the tetrahedral base made it inconvenient to store and ship in practice, even though the base consisted of two smaller symmetrical sections.
An improvement over this portable goal assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,393 to Fitzsimmons et al., also developed by the assignee of this application. Like the above-described unit, Fitzsimmons et al. '393 utilizes a hollow base that is filled with ballast material and the support pole is mounted on a rear portion of the base at an angle. However, the base of Fitzsimmons et al. '393 is much smaller in height and flatter than the prior tetrahedral base design. Moreover, the base is made from a single body rather than in two sections, and a separate support arm for the pole formed as a planar member is pivotably attached to the front end of the base. The support arm could be collapsed onto and nested on top of the base, as shown in FIGS. 1-2 of the '393 patent, thereby enabling the two-piece support system to occupy a smaller space when disassembled than when assembled, without sacrificing the stability needed for use. Thus, in practice, the unit of Fitzsimmons et al. '393 was easier to ship and store than that in the original Fitzsimmons et al. '407 patent.
A further improved portable goal system is manufactured and sold by the assignee of this application under the CENTER COURT name. The CENTER COURT portable unit is similar to that disclosed in Fitzsimmons et al. '393 in many respects, including the base, which also is substantially flat and hollow, the rearwardly disposed angled pole, and the support pole pivotably attached to the front end of the base. However, the support pole in the CENTER COURT design is not a planar support arm, as in Fitzsimmons et al. '393. Instead, two individual support arms formed as struts are pivotably attached to opposite sides of the front end of the base. The strut members are a less expensive alternative to the planar support arm of the Fitzsimmons et al. '393, and do not result in an appreciable loss of overall stability. Thus, the CENTER COURT unit has the advantage of being lighter in weight and more compact than the portable system of Fitzsimmons et al. '393, without sacrificing stability.
Examples of other conventional, but less desirable, portable basketball systems can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,259,612 and 5,248,140, both to Matherne et al. These patents disclose portable units also having a hollow base into which ballast material, such as water or sand, is disposed. However, in the two Matheme et al patents, the pole is mounted vertically in the front portion of the base, and the support arms extend at an angle from the pole to the rear of the base. By setting the pole in the front of the center of gravity of the base in these units, it is easier to topple or "pullover" these units than the rear mounted pole units described above when applying downwardly directed force on the rim of the goal, which is a standard way to measure the stability of a portable unit.
In the foregoing and other conventional goal units, achieving the greatest amount of stability, as measured by the amount of "pullover" force, should always be one of the paramount objects of a portable basketball system manufacturer. One approach to achieve this object is simply to use as much ballast as is practical. However, there are drawbacks to this approach, in that the more ballast to be used, the larger the base must be to accommodate the ballast. In the prior designs in which the base is hollowed to receive ballast, an increase in the amount of ballast necessitates an increased interior volume for the base, which can be accomplished by increasing the surface area, i.e. the footprint, of the base or its height. In the prior designs in which ballast sits on top of the base, it is likely necessary to provide a greater surface area for the base or to increase its strength to accommodate increased ballast. Increasing the size and/or strength of the base, in either type of design, disadvantageously increases the shipping costs, and increases the amount of storage space the unit will occupy.
Another limitation on portable basketball systems that is particularly applicable to a larger system is the support pole. Conventionally, portable systems have utilized steel poles having circular cross-sections to support the backboard and goal on the base. These round poles have typically been either 3 inches or 3.5 inches in diameter. In general, these size round poles have limited the amount of loading that can be applied to a portable system. Some known portable systems have used poles having square cross-sections, and at least one has used an oval cross-sectioned support pole. However, these pole shapes are not easily adaptable to existing support structure hardware, including elevators and extension arms.
The foregoing demonstrates that there is a need for a portable basketball support system that provides greater stability and can carry heavier loads than heretofore practical without increasing the shipping/storage footprint of the system, and without sacrificing portability. There are also needs for a large portable unit that is more easily assembled and disassembled than heretofore possible, and for a stronger, more stable support pole that does not use more material than conventional round poles, but still may be used with conventional elevators and extension arms.